Did This Norwegian Multimillionaire Invent a Cryptocurrency Ransom to Cover Up the Murder of His Wife?

Tom Hagen pictured in 2011 and the outside of his home some 15km north of Oslo where his wife, Anne-Elisabeth Falkevik Hagen, was believed to have been kidnapped.From VIDAR RUUD/AFP/Getty Images; by TORBJORN OLSEN/AFP/Getty Images (Hagen).

Tom Hagen’s wife Anne-Elisabeth disappeared in Norway in October 2018. Hagen cofounded the electric company Elkraft in 1992, and the case drew attention for his wealth—his net worth is reportedly about $200 million—as well as its mysterious circumstances. As the original story went, Anne-Elisabeth was kidnapped on October 31 that year; a ransom note demanding 9 million euros in the cryptocurrency Monero was left at the scene.

But on Tuesday, Norwegian police arrested Hagen. Investigators said they believe that the original version of events was false, a concoction to mislead police about Anne-Elisabeth’s murder.

“As the case initially appeared, our main theory was that Anne-Elisabeth Hagen had been abducted by someone with a financial motive. And in June 2019, we came to believe that she had most likely been killed,” Øst Police District said in a statement

“We now believe there was no abduction and there was never any genuine negotiations. In other words there was a clear and well-planned attempt at misleading the police,” it continued.

Hagen married Anne-Elisabeth in 1979, when he was 19. She had been a board member of his holding company (he is also a real estate investor), and the couple lived in Fjellhamar, a village about 12 miles outside of Oslo, CNN reported. Hagen has been described as media-shy in reports.

Hagen’s lawyer Svein Holden has denied the allegation and said Hagen had nothing to do with the disappearance or murder. “It is important to emphasize that although we have charged Tom Hagen, the case is still being investigated and there are several unanswered questions,” police said. They asked a court to keep Hagen in custody for four weeks, with no visits or outside communication allowed.